Greetings to all those I have enjoyed reading about and learning from for the past while. I have been lurking here for about a year. It was only about 4 years ago when I started fly fishing and lost all my spinning gear and didn't really care to look for it. I spend most of my summer and fall chasing stripers around the northshore of MA. I am a merchant marine officer who calls Diego Garcia home for usually around half the year. I also have been fortunate enough to make a few trips up to Doaktown for some salmon with my father in law. It is there where I first threw a fly and caught the bug. I will back throwing flies in the Chagos in a couple of days and I will be sure to post up some pics as the bones, GT's and trevallly begin to bend my rod and expose my backing . I am also a pretty devoted skier, here is a link to my last trip to Diego Garcia as viewed on the TGR forums.http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193739

Ben
Welcome aboard!!! Have enjoyed your post of the fish you caught on another forum and look forward to seeing some here as time goes on. Are you sailing as a "Second"?
I am a very long term grad of MassMaritimeAcademy (1957) so have some interest in that direction. Nice to have you here and hope that you will be able to join some of us in the May - October time frame on Cape Cod.
Pete 'popnesetbay' Readel

Ben,
Welcome aboard.
Wow what a place to be stationed. Are you the only fly fisherman there? I wish we could sail our boat in that area of the world, maybe someday they will let us like the old days.

There is one other guy who is active duty NAVY here that is my fishing buddy. He has been here almost a year and now he exclusively throws poppers on the outer reefs. Somehow he grew tired of bonefish and is obsessed with getting spooled by a big GT. He is running straight 100lb mono Says he is tired of loosing fish to the reef.

Ben
Welcome aboard!!! Have enjoyed your post of the fish you caught on another forum and look forward to seeing some here as time goes on. Are you sailing as a "Second"?
I am a very long term grad of MassMaritimeAcademy (1957) so have some interest in that direction. Nice to have you here and hope that you will be able to join some of us in the May - October time frame on Cape Cod.
Pete 'popnesetbay' Readel

Sorry but we cant talk as I went to Maine(2000 but kinda 2001 and 2002, its a long story) I do have some ties to Mass though having played a bunch of football against them. My wife's best friend just married the Admirals son. He and I have been going at it back and forth for about 6 months now. He didn't make it up to Castine for the admirals cup, I guess foresaw a Mass loss.

I am sailing 3rd here. I was sailing 2nd when I created 2nd Mate internet alias a few years back. I am one of the few and proud MEBA mates. I should be back home in April just in time for the Mirimachi thaw. I would love to catch up with some of you on the cape. My grandfather lives in Marion and my in-laws have been renting a house in Orleans for 30 years. Hopefully I will be around for some cape time this summer. Not sure about the summer/fall as my company is supposed to loose the ships I have been working on for 5 years.

Ben,
Keep the stuff coming from your part of the world. I think it was Juro who said we are all sluts for stories from our members from exotic places like where you are working.
Those 100 pounders in Tonga were caught with mono hand line out of small outrigger canoes. The locals had rags rapped around their hands. I would hook them on my Billy Pate 12 wt reel, what a joke that was but it got a lot of laughs out of the locals.